NORAD tracks Santa

NORAD keeps close watch on Santa as he nears Canadian airspace.

Want to know when Santa enters Canadian airspace on Christmas Eve? So does NORAD.

In the 2012 Canadian NORAD Region holiday video, Major General Pierre St-Amand explains that “trackers in the Canadian air-defence sector … [will] closely monitor their radar systems to make sure Santa and his reindeer are not delayed on their way into your home on Christmas Eve.”

Official NORAD Santa Tracker.

When Santa and his reindeer near eastern Canada, NORAD will scramble two Canadian fighter jets to escort Santa into Canadian airspace; the fighter jets will accompany Santa across Canada as he makes his deliveries and then escort him to the border to ensure that he leaves.

Merry Christmas!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW-ECciloF0&w=560&h=315]

© Canadian NORAD Region.

Urban Girl gets culinary

Box-standard biscotti.

Box-standard biscotti. Recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, page 296.

Exciting poodle biscotti!

Exciting poodle biscotti! The smaller, thinner shape requires less baking time than the traditional oblong. Recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, page 296.

This Christmas, Urban Girl is baking her way through her hostess-gift list. A recent trip to a local flea market turned into a cookie-cutter shopping spree when she happened upon a stash of retro kitchenalia. She’s decided to make low-fat gingerbread wiener-dogs (recipe: The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking) as well as poodle and Scottie dog biscotti (recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook).

Cookies in wide-mouth mason jars, with a twist of eco-friendly twine. Hostess gifts done.

Top tip: hover around the oven when baking cookie-cutter biscotti—the smaller, thinner shapes burn easily.

After burning two batches of her poodle and Scottie dog biscotti, Urban Girl realized that they needed less than half the baking time called for in the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook recipe. Lesson learned.

Sourcing:

The items photographed in this spread are the personal property of WCE staffers: WCE does not endorse these items and does not endorse these retailers. Sourcing is provided only as a courtesy.

Funky cookie cutters
While Urban Girl purchased her cookie cutters at a local flea market, she noticed equally funky-looking ones on the Etsy social–commerce site.

Lifetime measuring cups
Urban Girl loves her measuring cups. They have pouring spouts on both sides and can be placed directly on the stove top to melt butter or warm oil.

Spice Jar measuring spoons
Urban Girl swears by her slim-line Spice Jar measuring spoons: each fits into the mouth of a standard spice container, metal or glass. The day after she purchased them, she dropped off her box-standard balloon-shaped measuring spoons at her local Salvation Army Thrift Store.

“Gingerbread People (Reduced Fat)” recipe from The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker, 1997. Recipe on pages 828–829.

“Almond Biscotti” recipe from Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, Liz Vaccariello with Cynthia Sass, 2008.
This biscotti recipe has become an Urban Girl favourite: it’s low(ish) calorie and delicious. Recipe on page 296.

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Urban Girl and the Secret Santa gift

Urban Girl will be going to several Christmas parties this month, all featuring a Secret Santa gift exchange. So what has she decided to buy? Canadian. She’s putting together small gift baskets featuring gorgeous hand-blown Christmas-tree ornaments—made by Vancouver glass artist Malcolm Macfadyen—and tins of specialty teas from Great Wall Tea Company and DavidsTea. All affordable. All Canadian.

Sourcing:

The items photographed in this spread are the personal property of WCE staffers: WCE does not endorse these items and does not endorse these retailers. Sourcing is provided only as a courtesy.

DavidsTea.
DavidsTea also has more than 150 types of tea to choose from, which makes Urban Girl very happy. Choice is good.

Glass Craft.
Urban Girl loves blown-glass Christmas ornaments and thinks that everyone else should too. She found hers in a local nursery.

Great Wall Tea Company.
Urban Girl loves Great Wall Tea Company. It carries more than 150 types of tea, including her favourite, the über-pungent black tea Russian Caravan.

Twine spool with scissors
This twine spool reminds Urban Girl of a gigantic spool for thread. It’s funky and functional.

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AUNT BROCCOLI

KNIT YOUR WAY THROUGH YOUR CHRISTMAS GIFT LIST
Project: one-skein scarf with shell buttons

Words and photographs by Jennifer Getsinger

Jennifer “Aunt Broccoli” Getsinger shows you how to knit an artistic-looking scarf with shell buttons, in a couple of hours, using a single skein of yarn.

This 3-rib Salt & Pepper Scarf was knit on 1.5 cm needles in curlicue acrylic yarn.

This 3-rib Salt & Pepper Scarf was knitted on 1.5 cm needles in curlicue acrylic yarn.

It’s too close to the Christmas holidays to knit socks, and you can’t stand the thought of any more shopping. In your knitting basket are a few odd balls of yarn left over from various projects. How do you create an easy and attractive home-crafted gift in a hurry?

Herewith are Aunt Broccoli’s guidelines for making an artistic-looking (and warm) buttoned scarf, in a couple of hours, using a single skein of yarn:

  • Simple design.
  • Fat knitting needles.
  • Exotic-looking buttons.

Guideline #1: simple design

Aunt Broccoli believes in keeping things simple, especially when attempting to knit her way through her gift list.

And nothing could be simpler than rib stitch: columns of knit stitches alternating with columns of purl stitches. (Okay—stockinette stitch is simpler, but you can’t use stockinette stitch on a scarf because it won’t lie flat.) All three scarves shown here can be made by knitting two stitches and then purling two stitches, repeating until the scarf measures the length of your arm.

See instructions.
See materials list.

Guideline #2: fat needles

This 3-rib Salt & Pepper Scarf was knit on 1.5 cm needles in curlicue acrylic yarn.

This 3-rib Salt & Pepper Scarf was knitted on 1.5 cm needles in curlicue acrylic yarn.

This 6-rib Autumn Colours Scarf was knit on 1 cm needles in a silk/wool blend.

This 6-rib Autumn Colours Scarf was knitted on 1 cm needles in a silk–wool blend.

This 3-rib Classic Black Scarf was knit on massive 2.5 cm needles in an angora/wool blend.

This 3-rib Classic Black Scarf was knitted on massive 2.5 cm needles in an angora–wool blend.

Aunt Broccoli notes that the time required to knit a scarf is inversely proportional to the size of the needle: fat needles = less time. You may have to experiment to get the best combination of yarn, needle size, and completion time.

For her Autumn Colours Scarf in a silk–wool blend, Aunt Broccoli used 1 cm needles and 6 ribs and completed the project in approximately 3 hours.

See photograph.

For her Salt & Pepper Scarf in curlicue acrylic yarn, Aunt Broccoli used 1.5 cm needles and 3 ribs and completed the project in less than 3 hours.

See photograph.

For her Classic Black Scarf in an angora–wool blend—a spiderweb-like, narrow scarf—Aunt Broccoli used 3 ribs and massive 2.5 cm needles (rocket ships or castle turrets?) and completed the project in approximately 2.5 hours.

See photograph.

Top tip: for tighter scarf ends, start and finish with smaller needles.

See instructions.
See materials list.

Guideline #3: exotic-looking buttons

The exotic-looking shell buttons shown here are invasive purple clam, Nuttallia obscurata.

The exotic-looking shell buttons shown here are invasive purple varnish clam, Nuttallia obscurata.

Included in Aunt Broccoli's stash are these [name of shells in English; name of shells in Latin]. She has earmarked them for her next project.

Included in Aunt Broccoli’s stash are these whelks, Nucella sp. She has earmarked them for her next project.

Pull the look together by sewing two exotic-looking shell-button fasteners to one end of your scarf. You can quickly make cheap and unique buttons with a small drill and a variety of sea shells, culled from the nearest beach. Aunt Broccoli, who lives in Vancouver, BC, always has on hand miscellaneous nature treasures like these.

For all three scarves shown here, Aunt Broccoli used the invasive purple varnish clam, Nuttallia obscurata. (Nuttallia obscurata comes in white to pink to purple, and is very common on Vancouver beaches.) The shells easily slip through the wide holes in the knitted pattern to hold the two ends of each scarf together.

Once she had cleaned and dried the shells, she selected two pairs of contrasting large shell buttons and then tied them together back-to-back with yarn (elastic will work just as well).

Voila. Three more scarves ready for under the tree.

Top tip: the trick to making your shell buttons look shiny-wet is spray acrylic, or lacking that, clear nail polish, both of which dry almost immediately.

See instructions.
See materials list.

Instructions for knitting your own 3-rib, 6-rib, or 8-rib scarf

  • Cast on 12 sts for 3-rib scarf. (24 sts for 6-rib scarf; 32 sts for 8-rib scarf).
  • Every row: *K2. P2. Repeat from * to end of row. Repeat this row for length of scarf.
  • Cast off knitwise (WS).
  • Try on scarf and mark position for two (pre-drilled) shell buttons. Sew on buttons using a coordinating or contrasting yarn; black is always appropriate.

What you need for this project

  • Fat knitting needles.

Aunt Broccoli’s choices: Salt & Pepper Scarf: 1.5 cm needles and 3 ribs. Autumn Colours Scarf: 1 cm and 6 ribs. Classic Black Scarf: 2.5 cm and 3 ribs.

  • One skein of yarn.

Aunt Broccoli’s choices: Salt & Pepper Scarf: a curlicue acrylic from her stash. Autumn Colours Scarf: a silk–wool blend from her stash. Classic Black Scarf: an angorawool blend (70% angora; 30% wool) from her stash.

  • Two sea shells.

Aunt Broccoli used the purple varnish clam, Nuttallia obscurata, as buttons for all three scarves.

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Hark! The Harried Editors Sing! (lyrics)

It’s time for West Coast Editor’s annual, editing-themed Christmas carol. This year’s panegyric to editors is sung to the tune of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” Lyrics by Cheryl Hannah.

Music transcription by Dee Hannah. The transcription is based on a W.H. Cummings arrangement of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” from Carols for Choirs I: Fifty Christmas Carols, Oxford University Press, London, 1961. Photo by John Hannah.

  1. Hark! The harried editors sing!
    “May the new year much happiness bring!”
    Billings sent and billings paid;
    Coffers filled and money made.
    Joyful wordsmiths, they proclaim,
    “Words are art forms; none the same!”
    At their ink-stained desks they work,
    In the manner of a Dickens clerk.
    Hark! The harried editors sing!
    “May the new year much happiness bring!”
  2.  

  3. Editors, the writers’ friend;
    All their work they soon do mend.
    Long the hours they do toil,
    Longing for the kettle to boil.
    Noble spirits, kindly hearts,
    Champions of the language arts.
    Pleased to do all that they can
    To elevate the heart of man.
    Hark! The harried editors sing!
    “May the new year much happiness bring!”
  4.  

  5. Hail! The editors, sleep deprived!
    Hail! The editors, brows all furrowed!
    Known for the order they do bring
    To just about ev’ry damn thing.
    All their wish lists do include
    A book, a tablet, and some food;
    Longing for the project’s end
    So that their socks they can mend.
    Hark! The harried editors sing!
    “May the new year much happiness bring!”

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EVENT LISTINGS: November 2012

Do you have an event planned (or know of one) that you’d like to appear in these listings? Send us the details.

November 2–3, 2012: Kamloops Writers Fair

Do you have a completed manuscript ready to pitch to a literary agent or a partially completed manuscript ready to be put through a Blue Pencil or tested at an open mike? Then check out the Kamloops Writers Fair, which “welcomes writers of all genres, as well as published and emerging writers.”

The keynote speaker will be Anthony Dalton, author and past president of the Canadian Authors Association.

  • Time: 19h00–closing (November 2); 9h00–17h00 (November 3)
  • Cost: $100 (full weekend registration: includes Open Mic Night/wine and cheese reception; keynote speech; 2 workshops; Blue Pencil session; Saturday lunch)
  • Location: The Old Courthouse Cultural Centre, 7 Seymour Street West, Kamloops
  • Tickets
  • More information

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November 7–11, 2012: Circle Craft Christmas Market

Want to get a head start on your holiday shopping? Reserve your tickets for this year’s Circle Craft Christmas Market. Browse the works of 280 Canadian artisans; create your own blown-glass tree ornament; see pottery and wood-turning demonstrations; watch performances by the Royal City Youth Ballet Company and the Anna Wyman School of Dance.

  • Time: 10h00–21h00 (November 7–9); 10h00–19h00 (November 10); 10h00–17h00 (November 11)
  • Cost: $12 at the door ($10 online) for adults; $10 at the door ($8 online) for seniors; $10 at the door ($8 online) for students with valid ID
  • Location: Vancouver Convention Centre West, 1055 Canada Place, Vancouver
  • Tickets
  • More information

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November 15–18, 2012: Christmas at Hycroft

Here’s an opportunity to get a head start on your holiday shopping while experiencing the “sights and sounds of Christmas in a traditional Edwardian mansion.”

Christmas at Hycroft is organized by The University Women’s Club of Vancouver. It is the club’s biggest single-event fundraiser of the year, with funds going to promote education, “rights and opportunities for women through advocacy locally, nationally and internationally, as well as ongoing stewardship of the grounds and buildings.”

  • Time: 10h00–21h00 (November 15–16); 10h00–18h00 (November 17–18)
  • Cost: $13 for adults ($10 on November 15); $5 for children age 5–11 (children <5 years of age: free); $30 for a Family Package (2 adults and 3 children)
  • Location: 1489 McRae Avenue, Vancouver
  • Tickets
  • More information

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November 18, 2012: EAC-BC seminar: Grammar Essentials for Writers and Editors (a Seminar for the Fainthearted and the Fearless)

Can you explain how a transitive verb differs from an intransitive one or how a phrase differs from a clause? Can you tell a client or your colleagues what is wrong with a sentence that “doesn’t sound right”? Note: this seminar will be held in Kelowna.

In this seminar, instructor Barbara Tomlin will guide you to a better understanding of sentence structure and grammar terminology through exercises, discussions, and group activities. You will learn about common errors that can mar otherwise good writing and leave the seminar feeling better about your grasp of the language that you use by instinct every day.

Whether you feel anxious when you hear the word “grammar” or are eager to address gaps in your knowledge, you will benefit from this review of how English works—and sometimes doesn’t.

Topics will include:

  • How grammar differs from usage and style
  • Parts of speech
  • Sentence problems
  • Subject-verb agreement
  • Misplaced and dangling modifiers
  • Grammar resources

About the instructor: Barbara Tomlin began working in the publishing industry more than 30 years ago, first for educational and trade book publishers, and then for magazine publishers. Since then she has edited, copy edited, and proofread a wide range of material for a variety of clients. She is certified as an editor in life sciences and is a past chair of the Editors’ Association of Canada Certification Steering Committee. She has also been an instructor for SFU’s Writing and Communications Program for more than 20 years and has developed writing and editing workshops for many organizations. She is a founding member of West Coast Editorial Associates.

  • Time: 9h30–16h30
  • Cost: $120 for EAC members who register by October 26, 2012 (after: $140); $180 for non-members who register by October 26, 2012 (after: $200)
  • Location: Rotary Centre for the Arts, 421 Cawston Avenue, Kelowna
  • Registration

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November 21, 2012: EAC-BC meeting: Language Detectives

What do syntax and CSI have in common?

What do syntax and CSI have in common? Find out in this fascinating glimpse into the world of forensic linguistics. Did a series of text messages sent before a fatal car crash constitute legitimate suicide notes? Can we tell if a 911-call transcript has been altered? In a series of letters, where does the author go from creep to stalker? Dr. Lorna Fadden, linguistics professor and consultant in the field of forensic linguistics, will tell us about these and other cases she has worked on. She’ll also discuss what she and her colleagues look for in their work, and how she came to be a language detective.

About the speaker: Dr. Lorna Fadden is an assistant professor of linguistics at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Over the past decade, her research has focused on discourse analysis, mostly of police interviews, and the methods and ethics of dealing with language evidence. She has consulted on numerous cases in Canada and the United States. She’s also SFU’s First Nations languages coordinator and a regular moderator for SFU’s Philosophers’ Café.

  • Time: 19h00–21h00
  • Cost: free for EAC members; $10 for non-members; $5 for students with valid ID
  • Location: YWCA on Hornby, 535 Hornby Street, Welch Room, 4th floor, Vancouver
  • Registration: at the door

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November 24, 2012: Canadian Authors Association workshop: Research—The Key to Writing Historical Fiction

In this workshop, instructors Robert Mackay and Margo Bates will teach you how to develop your ideas, characters, storyline, and story outcome based on research.

This workshop is hosted by the Canadian Authors Association (CAA).

  • Time: 13h00–16h00
  • Cost: $30 for CAA members; $60 for non-members; $35 for students with valid ID
  • Location: Alliance for Arts and Culture, 100-938 Howe Street, Vancouver
  • Registration

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November 24–29, 2012: Jewish Book Festival

Each year, the Jewish Book Festival attracts a large and varied audience to the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver for lectures, workshops, film screenings, book launches, and more. This year, more than 20 established and emerging Jewish and non-Jewish writers will be speaking at the event about subject matter ranging from literature and philosophy to history and current events.

  • Bookstore hours: 19h00–22h00 (November 24); 10h00–21h00 (November 25–29)
  • Cost for each event: varies (admission is charged for most events; some are free)
  • Location: Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, 950 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver
  • Tickets for events
  • Events program

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November 24—December 24, 2012: Vancouver Christmas Market

Looking to experience an authentic German Christmas market while you shop for traditional German Christmas decorations, toys, pottery, food and drink, jewellery, and crafts? Fancy a stroll through “romantic rows of little wooden huts decorated in pine branches and illuminated with strings of little white lights”? This market is for you!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYPjFvJnecs?rel=0&w=640&h=360]© Vancouver Christmas Market

  • Time: 11h00–21h00 (November 24–December 23); 11h00–18h00 (December 24)
  • Cost: $5 for adults (Monday–Friday: 16h00–21h00; Saturday–Sunday: 11h00–21h00); $2 for adults (Monday–Friday: 11h00–16h00); $2 for children age 7–12; no charge for children <7 years of age
  • Location: Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza, 650 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
  • More information

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